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Kevin Durant returns with triple-double in Thunder win

PHILADELPHIA — Kevin Durant had 32 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists to help fuel the Oklahoma City Thunder's 103-91 victory against the Philadelphia 76ers and etch his name alongside NBA royalty Saturday

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Kevin Durant returns with triple-double in Thunder win

The Oklahoma City Thunder star and MVP candidate notched his fifth career triple-double in Saturday's 103-91 win over the Philadelphia 76ers and has now scored 30 or more points in 10 consecutive games.
(Delaware Online)

Durant returned from a sprained right shoulder to amass 32 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists and help fuel the Oklahoma City Thunder's 103-91 victory against the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday night at the Wells Fargo Center, etching his name alongside NBA royalty in the process.

Durant became just the sixth player since 1990 to score 30 or more points in 10 consecutive games, joining Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady.

The triple double was his second of the season and fifth of his career.

"I felt like I was out for so long even though it was just one game," Durant said. "I just want to play. I hate sitting out, but that was best for me and my shoulder, so I've just got to keep getting it better and I guess that day off was needed."

The Thunder (35-10), who have played four games in five nights, won their seventh in a row. The 76ers (14-30) have lost two consecutive games and nine of their last 11.

Serge Ibaka added 25 points on 12-of-16 shooting, plus 11 rebounds and five blocks for Oklahoma City, which owns the best record in the Western Conference.

"I thought Kevin was fantastic all the way around," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "Defensively, offensively, moving the basketball, rebounding the ball, and he did a great job of finding Serge."

Thaddeus Young narrowly missed a triple double for the 76ers, finishing with 13 points, 10 rebounds and eight steals.

Oklahoma City shot 52.6% (40-of-76) from the field despite struggling from 3-point range (4-of-21). The 76ers managed to shoot just 37.8% (34-of-90) overall and 14.8% (4-of-27) from long range.

HIGHLIGHTS: Durant leads Thunder past 76ers

Durant has been on an exceptional tear of late. He averaged 39.8 points on 58.3% shooting over his previous six games before sitting out Oklahoma City's 101-83 rout of the Boston Celtics on Friday because of a sprained right shoulder.

"Obviously, the way he's playing right now, you can try every defense you can try, put every person on him, but when he's going there's not much you can do," Hawes said. "And now, I think he's figured out how to make everybody else better, which makes him that much more valuable to the team."

Durant hit 12-of-17 shots and all seven of his free throws against Philadelphia, and most of the announced crowd of 19,217 fans reserved their cheers for the perennial MVP candidate.

"From being down the road in D.C., I had a lot of friends and family come up," Durant said. "It just felt good just to be back on the East Coast. I've been coming up and down to Philly since I was a kid, so to come back here and play and have so many people cheering for us, it feels great."

Oklahoma City owned a 53-44 lead at halftime, when Durant had 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting.

The Thunder missed their first eight shots from 3-point range until Durant sank a straightaway jumper over 76xers rookie Michael Carter-Williams for a 43-34 advantage with five minutes remaining in the first half.

Ibaka hit a layup to give the Thunder their first double-digit advantage at 50-40 with 2½ minutes to go in the second quarter, and their lead grew to as large as 12 points before the break.

April 14, 2014: Minnesota Timberwolves forward Corey Brewer goes crowd surfing in the middle of a game against the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors went on to win a 130-120 shootout, clinching the 6th seed in the playoffs.
Kelley L Cox, USA TODAY Sports

April 13, 2014: Paul George and his Indiana Pacers got a much-needed win against the Oklahoma City Thunder, as his squad jousts with the Miami Heat for the top playoff spot in the East.
Brian Spurlock, USA TODAY Sports

March 18, 2014: On the day he was introduced as Knicks president, Phil Jackson joins former teammates Walt Frazier and Dick Barnett and Peter DeBusschere, son of Jackson teammate Dave.
William Perlman, The Star-Ledger, via USA TODAY Sports

March 3, 2014: The night belonged to LeBron James, who put on a show for the South Beach crowd with a career-high and Heat-record 61 points in a 124-107 win over the Bobcats.
Robert Mayer, USA TODAY Sports

March 2, 2014: Joakim Noah (13) sends Raymond Felton's (2) shot back where it came from as the Bulls rolled to a 109-90 win over the Knicks in Chicago. Noah wracked up a triple-double with 13 points, 12 rebounds and 14 assists.
Mike Dinovo, USA TODAY Sports

Feb 26, 2014: Dwight Howard (12) beat Blake Griffin (32) for an alley-oop slam here, but it wasn't enough for the Rockets, who fell 101-93 to the Clippers in a matchup of Western Conference contenders.
Kelvin Kuo, USA TODAY Sports

Feb 24, 2014: Everyone knew he would take the shot, but the Knicks still couldn't stop Dirk Nowitzki (41), who hit the game-winning shot here at the buzzer to give the Mavericks a 110-108 win.
Anthony Gruppuso, USA TODAY Sports

Feb. 23, 2014: Brooklyn Nets center Jason Collins (46) attempts a shot during the second half against the Los Angeles Lakers. Collins became the first openly gay athlete to play in any of North America's four major professional sports.
Gary A. Vasquez, USA TODAY Sports

Feb. 5, 2014: Sacramento center DeMarcus Cousins attempts to save the ball from going out of bounds during the third quarter in the Kings' game against the Toronto Raptors.
Ed Szczepanski, USA TODAY Sports

Jan. 26, 2014: It was another emotional night in Boston as Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett returned for the first time since being traded to the Nets in July. Each only scored six points, but Brooklyn came away with a 85-79 win.
Mark L. Baer, USA TODAY Sports

Jan. 25, 2014: Thunder star Kevin Durant had his game face on for a 103-91 win over the 76ers, finishing with 32 points, 14 rebounds and 10 assists for his second triple-double of the season. Durant also scored 30 or more for the 10th consecutive game.
Howard Smith, USA TODAY Sports

Jan. 24, 2014: Carmelo Anthony was all smiles after he delighted the home crowd and lit up Madison Square Garden with a franchise and arena-record 62 points in the Knicks' 125-96 win over the Bobcats.
Noah K. Murray, USA TODAY Sports

Jan. 12, 2014: C.J. Miles (0) couldn't get to the bucket here against Jason Thompson (34), just as the Cavaliers had a tough time scoring against the Kings in a 124-80 loss. Sacramento's 44-point blowout was the biggest rout of the NBA season so far.
Kelley L. Cox, USA TODAY Sports

Jan. 10, 2014: In an NBA first, the Heat and Nets wore jerseys with nicknames on the back. "The Truth" Paul Pierce (34) and the Nets got the better of "King James" LeBron James and the Heat in a 104-95 double-overtime win.
Joe Camporeale, USA TODAY Sports

Jan. 5, 2014: A frustrated Jose Calderon pleads his case with an official during the Mavericks' home loss to the Knicks. New York frustrated Dallas into a season low in points in a 92-80 win.
Jerome Miron, USA TODAY Sports

Jan. 4, 2014: Kevin Love, right, got the better of Kevin Durant in this collision of All-Stars, but Durant and the Thunder got the better of Love and the Timberwolves on the scoreboard in Oklahoma City's 115-111 win.
Jesse Johnson, USA TODAY Sports

Jan. 1, 2014: Monta Ellis (11) played some tough defense on John Wall (2) here as the Mavericks locked down on the Wizards in the fourth quarter of an 87-78 win in Washington.
Geoff Burke, USA TODAY Sports

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"They're very good, and they've been good for a number of years, and they're playing in a system, and they're playing for each other," 76ers coach Brett Brown said, "and it's a prideful group that has played deep into playoffs, and you're just going to have to do a lot of things right to beat that team, with or without Russell Westbrook, especially with the stage of our program."

Westbrook, the Thunder's three-time All-Star point guard, has missed the last month since arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.

The 76ers used a 9-0 run to make a game of it in the third quarter. Hawes briefly took control, hitting a 3, a slam in transition and a floating jumper, which was followed by a pair of free throws by Anderson as the 76ers slashed their deficit to 69-65 with a little more than five minutes remaining in the third.

But the Thunder called a timeout and quickly put an end to Philadelphia's comeback bid.

"I thought defensively, we were pretty solid," Brooks said. "They're a fast team. They play small a lot of the time and their bigs can shoot from the perimeter. So I thought overall we played a pretty good game."

Durant's driving layup with two minutes left in the frame gave him 30 points and put the Thunder back up by double digits at 79-69. Oklahoma City entered the fourth quarter with an 83-71 lead and cruised the rest of the way.

"My teammates did a great job of finding me at the rim ... so I've got to credit them for everything," he said.

Jason Wolf covers the NBA for The News Journal in Wilmington, Del., a Gannett affiliate.